If a trader placed a buy order, a dealer may offer a better ask price than the previous ask to earn the trader’s business. The midquote of the quoted bid and ask prices is $30.035. The effective spread for this buy order would then be calculated as: 2 × ($30.04 - $30.035) = $0.01, which is 6 cents better than the quoted spread of $0.07 ($30.07 - $30.00). |